Talkin' shite. Constructively

Safe S1:E1.6 The Affair(s) Recap

Hi everyone, I know it's been too long to be away from Safe, what's been happening? You know life: I make plans and the gods laugh and laugh...Rolling S1:E1.6 of Harlan's Coben's second oeuvre with Red Production Company after the break!

We open back at the party of iniquity, watching the doomed Chris Chahal (Freddy Thorp) fistfight with a friend Mike (Rohan Nedd) about whether or not Chris's mom Zoe (Audrey Fleurot) is a MILF or not. We cut to Chris floating, drowned in the Marshall's pool, while his dad Neil (Joplin Sibtain) watches from the road, tears in his eyes.

Tears from what? From seeing his dead son? From murdering his son? From WHAT?

We're in the present on Day Five now, in the middle of a fire at Helen Crowthorne's (Karen Bryson) house, where we know Chris's missing girlfriend Jenny Delaney (Amy James-Kelly) has been hiding since Day One. Her dad, Dr. Tom Delaney (Michael C. Hall) tracked her phone to the residence and is now trapped inside with a body in the middle of an inferno.

I call shenanigans; at the end of episode 5 we couldn't tell whose legs were sticking out and were led to assume that it might be one of Tom's daughters but now we can see clearly that it's Helen and she's not with us any longer.

Tom is in contact with his IT guy, who tells him that Jenny's phone is now on the move so he runs out of the burning house past a bunch of people who now think he set the fire, including some cops and nosy neighbours.

Detectives Sophie Mason (Amanda Abbington) and Emma Castle (Hannah Arterton) explain to Chris's parents about the lack of evidence against the Marshalls and why Jojo (Tony Lindsay) had to be let go after all. They're still processing that when Emma asks about Mike of the fight above: does Zoe know him? Could he have had a grudge?

Neil uses his anger to push the detectives back; this man is a walking lit fuse.

Tom bangs through a few backyards, following Jenny's phone signal until he gets to the Chahal residence where Tilly (Imogen Gurney) is protecting herself with a giant kitchen knife after an apparent break-in. Tom decides to hide out for a bit, but he's getting frustrated and stressed beyond belief.

Did I mention this is a gated community? Rich people politely milling about, tsking about the fire and police everywhere.

Sophie is suspicious about Helen's death, she doesn't look like most people who die of smoke inhalation. It looks as thought she might have been already dead before the fire was set. Emma and Sophie go to the Chahal abode to ask Tom about it, Neil decides this is a good time to flex some dad-muscle on Tom.

Tom moves to stalk out indignantly but stops when he sees that Neil's office has been tossed. The rest of the house is tidy but his office is a mess: who's after him? Of course Neil set Zoe up for the sleeping-with-students thing, he finally confesses while we roll our eyes at each other and mouth "duh" across the room. They're divorcing, that should tell you anything you need to know.

Sophie pushes Tom back again, settle down Ranger Rick! Emma espouses some sympathy instead, confusing all of us. Tom's forgotten that Carrie is safe and well, he thinks she's missing too for a minute.

Jenny's phone is found, Tom positively identifies it and then pushes Sophie away as she tries to comfort him. They have a complicated relationship, see, they were Married People Friends with their respective spouses until Tom's wife Rachel died of cancer and Sophie divorced her husband Josh (Emmett J. Scanlan). There was a three-kiss-crossover, one sloppy drunken makeout session that happened as Rachel was literally dying, so it gets a little awkward sometimes.

Sophie talks about not wanting children, she wanted her career. But once you have kiddos, she discovered the universal truth: they own you. They make you vulnerable at your most elemental level because there isn't anything you wouldn't do for them.

***much kissing break***

Zoe tucks Tilly in and texts someone to call her, she's worried.

Who dat?

Zoe's got a great description of marriage the next morning, Tilly can't believe she's not more angry at Neil. But Neil was the most caring man she'd ever met, that's why she married and procreated with him. But you grow apart, and sometimes you think you'd do anything just to feel something. Which they BOTH did. Kudos for talking about both sides, mom. Neil cries in a cafe and watches old videos of his family in happier times

Is marriage even a natural state? I wonder that almost every day.

At the police station, pathology has confirmed what Sophie had expected: Helen was dead when the fire was started. That's not all Darren (Raj Paul) has for Sophie and Emma, they also found Jenny's purse at the scene.

We have to assume it's Jenny's purse seeing as we got a 90 second monologue from Tom earlier about Jenny liking that particular pattern.

Tom pops in to see pal Pete (Marc Warren) in the hospital recovering from a couple of stab wounds to the gut. Ohhhh he has flowers, $10 says they're from Zoe and that's who she was having an affair with. Oh sorry, I forgot that Pete's gay and the flowers were from a 6-foot-tall married man that he's been sleeping with for 6 months and is in love with. His boyfriend just broke up with him.

Life is complicated. And we never shook on that $10!

Oh now Jenny is a suspect in the murder of Helen AND Chris, I'd stay hidden too!

Emma runs up just as Pete's walking out of the hospital, she needs to tell him he's her dad some time soon because he's going to start thinking he's a suspect or something.

Pete runs through the whole scenario for Tom, it does sound like Jenny is Ground Zero for trouble, doesn't it? He counsels Tom to start thinking clearly about Jenny and her possible role in what's going on. Tom thinks the answer lies with Neil, but I think he's too obvious. As is Mike, brought in for questioning with a bloody face and asking for Sophie specifically because she's Henry's (Louis Greatorex) mum.

Emma's off to interview Eric Pratchett (Ben Onwukwe) about the fire at Helen's house, he talks about a fire from long ago, some children died. That's when the gates were built, was that to keep the bogeyman out? Or to keep him in? Eric's family lost everything that day, a young man in a picture on his mantle looks very similar to a fella we saw with Rachel and Helen.

Tom approaches Neil at Chris's memorial, he thinks Neil knows where Jenny is. Before they can get into it, Zoe runs up and needs to talk about her affair right now. In front of everyone.

When Tom insists on knowing with who because it might affect his child's wellbeing...I mean

Oh jaysus, Zoe was sleeping with a student after all. The young Ioan Fuller (Hero Fiennes Tiffin - that's a NAME!) with the intriguing mouth I'd mentioned earlier. How old, please? Was he still in school?

Zoe cries with Neil, how can he ever forgive her? Now we know why he was crying the night of the party, it was because he followed her and saw her with the young fella.

Side note: I think Audrey Fleurot is the only person I've seen with more freckles than me!

Sophie checks on her ex-hubs Josh, who's been sleeping in a caravan in her driveway. She invites him in for supper, to the delight of her kids. Ah children, they do expose your entire flank. We get a vignette of Sophie washing blood out of Henry's sweater while she watches them eat, she'll do anything to protect them.

Like...anything? Nahhh I smell red herring, we just heard how her career as a detective is her life. She's good at it! Except for the destroying evidence bit.

Tilly finds her parents holding hands, group hug!

Ah, so Jenny has fled to the safety of her mother's ex-boyfriend Bobby (Milo Twomey), they look equally grim as he works on something. What's going on there? WEIRD. We're out.

So many love affairs gone wrong in this small community! Zoe, Tom, Sophie, Pete, EVERYONE is all over the place. And how does everything tie into the death of Tom's wife? It must, because everything started happening exactly one year after her funeral. She was doing something at a psychiatric facility called Jasmine Hall, how does this puzzle fit together? Right now I am like a baby staring at a beach ball, I can't make anything out! Until next time, which hopefully won't be quite so long as it was the last time! Cheers